Ashe had a new terror. Nothing new there. But this one, unlike most, was aquatic - and, importantly, not a Pliathor. It was an Equillion, a special one designed for the darkest watery depths. She was a part of the Aquarium's, and also the Aquatic Keep's, events made to draw attention to a very overlooked type of creature. For things under the surface were often ignored in favor of creatures in the sky, predominantly Sarane, and Ashe wanted to remind people that there was more to life. There was more to aquatic creatures than Pliathor, too! Loathe as he was to admit it.

But handling aquatic creatures was tricky. They couldn't just walk from place to place, so Ashe had to organize a space for his 'in training' beasts, organize safe transport, and manage them while they were there. Right now, he had just transported Jigar, his Angler Equillion, and the shebeast was just coming out of her induced tranquil state. Confused, lost, a bit dazed - Ashe didn't desire to be too close at the moment. She was within a netted perimeter so she couldn't get lost or flee too far, and the mesh was fine enough water could get through but little else (so she couldn't tangle herself, was the intention).

As was to be expected, she stayed deep below the surface, but Ashe could see the faint glow of the light on her forehead. So much like a unicorn horn, he thought, and yet so different. He decided to perch for a moment on a rock, watching the water, waiting until he saw her surface to know she was ready for interaction. He was dressed in swim trunks and shirtless, barefoot. His tattoos and toned muscles were on display - he had been absent from the public world, but that didn't mean he'd stopped training monsters!

Ashe: +0 1/10Jigar: +0 1/5

...fifty-six, fifty-seven, fifty-eight...A small bubble escaped her lips, floating in a silvery sphere towards the surface as it passed her blurred vision. Vixen was submerged under water, free of her amulet which laid uselessly on the dock above her, lungs burning and dark hair billowing in a cloud around her. Her ears were ringing with the pressure of her held breath, and yet despite her increasing discomfort, she still clung to the dock post, keeping herself rooted under the lake's surface. Why she chose to punish herself with the discomfort of oxygen deprivation, she couldn't tell you- something about holding her breath and subsequently having to gasp for air was... cleansing. That wasn't the right word, but it was close. Damn close. It wasn't far off from the piece of clear head space one might have after an adrenaline rush, or a dangerous encounter- but outside, it looked more like attempted drowning, and so it was an odd habit she tended to keep to herself. What justification could she really offer, after all, as to why she chose to choke for air rather than use an amulet explicitly to prevent that?

...seventy-nine, eighty, eighty-one, eighty-two...f*ck, that hurt. The amulets had made her lazy, ruined her stamina- two minutes used to not be a problem, but damn it all if this wasn't burning. She squeezed her eyes shut a moment, bullying herself to push through it, to avoid the sweet release of air above. When she opened her eyes, she again found the pale, shimmering shape some dozen yards away from her. Tlaloc was what she was not in this realm- graceful and effortless. While not skittish of her, the stallion certainly preferred his own company, and elected to watch her with a wary blue eyes as he hovered close to the sandy bottom. Another large bubble pushed past her lips, and his ears swiveled forward curiously. What was she doing, anyway?

Ninety-three... Ni... f*ck.She kicked off from the dock post that had held her down and shot towards the surface, breaking it with a noisy, desperate gasp as she sucked down lungfuls of sweet air. As her frenzied panting slowed, she touched her head to the dock, clenching it, and closed her eyes. "f*ck me," she murmured, dizzied by her efforts below the surface.

You don't belong. A deep voice resonated in her mind, and she snorted, droplets of water flying from her nose.

Last I checked, you were scared of the water, Voodoo.

I don't go where I don't belong, he answered stiffly, falling silent. Vixen shook her head, grabbing the edge of the dock above her to pull herself up on the edge, hair hanging heavily around her face. Her belly scales scraped the wood and she grunted, muscles in her shoulders swelling subtly under her skin as she found a seat on the dock. Huffing, she grabbed her amulet of underwater travel, looking at its smooth purple stone with a blank expression. Again, unwarranted advice floated into her mind. Wear it.

I'm going to take off my bracelet if you don't stop micromanaging me, she threatened, frowning at the gris-gris bracelet which allowed for shared sight between them. I'm not going to drown myself. A wave of the stallion's dubiousness washed over her, and she smothered a groan and dropped the silver chain around her neck. Voodoo had become as bad as any mother hen as of late, breaking his usual stoic nature in favor of hovering over her mentally, checking in with her, and urging her to go places and do things. It was... well, frankly, annoying. Was she not an adult? Was she not capable of looking after herself, as she had for the past twenty-something years? Absentmindedly, she groped for her bag, feeling for the outer pouch that held a little something that rattled... but something in her peripheral caught her eye, and she snatched her hand back on reflex, heart rate spiking with her hidden guilt. What does some random asshole care if I- Her head turned, hand pushing her dripping hair to the side, and her expression dropped for a moment. "Ashe."

She hadn't such close company she had submerged herself; evidently her lover had showed up sometime while she was below the lake's surface. She scrambled to her feet, briefly considering swimming over to his dock some feet away, but thought better of it. It wasn't worth climbing the dividing net when she would have to return to Tlaloc anyway. Instead, she settled for a happy but puzzled grin. "Fancy seeing you here, handsome." Had he told her he was coming out today? Her memory was so bad lately- maybe he had. Shit. "Who do you have? I know Alaska won't fit in these." She gestured loosely towards the netted pens, glancing towards her own tag-along. A faint, blinking rainbow light was barely visible on the wavy surface of the water. He had drifted closer to her vacated spot, but didn't care to breech the surface, or come flush against the dock.

Wow, that took some effort! It was annoying trying to move aquatic creatures around - Note to self, just get a collar of bonding for them all next time. Well, actually, the Sea Pony was easy enough to move. Ashe could just about carry Wave Dancer, she was so small. Carry her to a small tank in a cart he hired, and carry her from tank to dock. But the Shabtau was much heavier, even if she wasn't that much bigger, all things considered... Where did she put all that weight, anyway? Just a solid mound of flubber. Ashe had grunted as he'd rolled her into the sling and had her hoisted up onto the cart. He'd spent the journey keeping her skin moist and rotating her if he could manage. Thankfully, it wasn't a long trip, and she'd been easy enough to roll off the cart and into the water.

Now the fun could finally begin! He'd given the pair a whole day to relax and acclimate to their new temp home, roping off their section of the dock. He didn't worry about them hurting each other because, well, look at them! One was a fat flub of pacifism, and the other was a tiny sea pony. He did check in on them periodically and make sure they were fed, and that they were still alive. He could easily find Lotus, as she commonly floated near the surface to make for easy breathing, but he had to look harder for the sea pony. And today was no exception. He sat on the wooden dock ledge that jutted out into his roped off section, Inyala sitting on his shoulder. "Let me know if you see them..." Ashe murmured, watching. He wasn't in a rush, after all. He had all day and nothing to do.

Post by Ashe on Jun 28, 2019 18:28:00 GMT -6

Ashe squinted down at the water and thought he could see the dark body of the Shabu, but he wasn't sure if it was a rock or his girl. He watched it for a few minutes before realizing it was indeed a rock. The biggest tell tale sign was... Lotus came floating out from under the dock! She was maybe an inch below the water's surface, her back peeking out every so often. Ashe rolled over onto his stomach, upsetting Inyala. She jumped ship before she toppled over and landed on the wooden dock beside him. She decided to look over the edge with Ashe, and she joined him, but she sat perched on one of the circular wooden beams holding the dock up. She was safer up here.

From his new vantage point, Ashe could reach down and easily touch the water. He did this, figuring the first interaction could very well be a great opportunity to teach them something useful - like 'come'. He had a whistle with him, which was easier to hear than a voice while under water, but remembering all those commands got to be a pain.... Oh well, such was the joy of aquatic critters! And Ashe did truly love them.

Ashe slipped the shrill whistle into his mouth, reached out with his hand, and tapped his fingers on the water. He gave a long ( _____ ) whistle and tapped the water some more, to create a point of interest for them to check out. He watched Lotus surface and peek her head out, curiously, checking out what the splashing was. Not too far off, Ashe also saw the sea pony come to the surface, but she darted away quickly, startled by the splashing. What if it was a predator!

Ashe blew the whistle again ( _____ ) and splashed his fingers, trying to gain their interest.

Lotus: 0 2/5Wave Dancer: 0 2/5Inyala: 0 2/5Ashe: 0 4/10

Come - Lotus 1, Wave Dancer 1

If I had a heart, I could love you,If I had a voice, I would sing.After the night when I wake up,I'll see what tomorrow brings.

Post by Ashe on Jun 28, 2019 18:55:06 GMT -6

Ashe continued to tap the water and give the long whistle call, waiting for someone to show interest. Once he got one of them over, he'd give them some treats. He had brought some lettuce for Lotus and some shrimp treats for Wave Dancer. But neither of them were getting crap if they didn't come over! He spotted Wave Dancer a few times dipping and darting, curious but too nervous to come over. He wished she would; he knew her a little more than he knew Lotus. The fat flubby baby had lived a simple happy life at the aquarium and, while she seemed to enjoy people watching in her tank, she didn't have that much interaction on a one on one basis.

Suddenly, without warning, something touched Ashe's hand. He'd been so focused on watching Lotus that he hadn't paid attention to what was going on right under him and it startled him enough that he jerked back, jumping a bit. His hand came up out of the water, even, instinct taking over and protecting him from getting bitten. But his senses took back over and he leaned back over the dock, looking to see what it was. It had to be Wave Dancer, nothing else was out here with them, but she didn't want to make herself known. Most likely, Ashe had scared her with his jerk of surprise.

Alright, he'd have to try the next thing. He took a shrimp and tossed it into the water and fluttered his fingers near it. He called the whistle again and waited patiently. This could take all day. He had plans for a couple of weeks working with these two, hoping to maybe put on a children's level show at the Aquarium sometime soon. Wave Dancer would be perfect! He did the command again - and saw movement.

Lotus: 0 3/5Wave Dancer: 0 3/5Inyala: 0 3/5Ashe: 0 5/10

Come - Lotus 2, Wave Dancer 2

If I had a heart, I could love you,If I had a voice, I would sing.After the night when I wake up,I'll see what tomorrow brings.

Post by Ashe on Jun 28, 2019 19:16:56 GMT -6

It had to be Wave Dancer. Both Ashe and Inyala leaned forward, waiting and watching. Inyala had keener eyesight, Ashe was sure, and she'd been able to see what had touched Ashe's hand earlier. Come to think of it, the singular fact that she hadn't raised the alarm meant that it must have been Wave Dancer. Anything that might actually hurt Ashe, Inyala wouldn't have allowed without putting up a fuss. Not that Ashe was worried - quite the opposite! That meant Wave Dancer was finally giving into her curiosity over her fear and nervousness. Just a little more and they might start making some progress around here.

Suddenly, there was something right in front of him, darting up and taking the shrimp and then swimming off. Ashe was watching for it this time and saw that it was Wave Dancer! The little sea pony was a quick swimmer, but not quick enough to escape notice! But that was good, the sea pony came over, even if it was just for the treat. So Ashe tried again, using the whistle and tapping on the water's surface. Nothing. He was tempted to toss in a shrimp again, however he didn't want to throw his cards in just yet so he waited. During the waiting, he'd finally managed to coax Lotus over. The little flub came floating toward Ashe, slowly propelling herself with her thick tail. When she got close enough, Ashe tossed her a few smaller pieces of lettuce. She raised her head, found the leafy greens, and munched.

Ashe made the call again, and tossed a shrimp in next to his fingers, trying to entice Wave Dancer to come up once more. He didn't have to wait long before the tiny blue head popped up and inhaled the shrimp - she even hesitated a little bit before darting back down!

Lotus: 0 4/5Wave Dancer: 0 4/5Inyala: 0 4/5Ashe: 0 6/10

Come - Lotus 3, Wave Dancer 3

If I had a heart, I could love you,If I had a voice, I would sing.After the night when I wake up,I'll see what tomorrow brings.

Post by Ashe on Jun 28, 2019 20:04:02 GMT -6

Ashe repeated this process over and over for the next fifteen minutes or so. Lotus wanted to hang out around Ashe himself once she realized what was going on - lettuce, for sitting right here? Okay, count her in! And Wave Dancer was getting brave enough to stay near the surface as well, hardly ever fleeing once she realized that one, it was just Ashe, and two, that there was shrimp over here. So easy to handle food motivated creatures! Ashe wasn't food motivated himself, so he couldn't relate, but many animals were so that was a great bonus. The hard part was getting them to go away again. He usually waited, not giving any food for a while, until they got bored and wandered off on their own. Once, he tried pushing Lotus away, and that worked for a few seconds before she came right back. A couple of times, Ashe moved to different locations on the dock itself and would call them over.

Ashe had switched to calling the critters over himself, and when they came he would have Inyala throw them a treat. He also added the clicker, giving a click right before the treats hit the water. This would hopefully help them associate the sound with the 'good job' excitement they got when a treat was presented. Eventually he'd switch to just the clicker, so they wouldn't go through their treats or get too full to focus later on.

They were steadily improving, coming to him at this end of the dock and then that end. Wave Dancer, once she gained some confidence, seemed to be the most eager and the quickest study on the subject. Lotus was eager enough to float over, and seemed almost to like the attention as much as the treats. Maybe Ashe could use that to his advantage!

Lotus: 1 0/5Wave Dancer: 1 0/5Inyala: 1 0/5Ashe: 0 7/10

Come - Lotus 4, Wave Dancer 4

If I had a heart, I could love you,If I had a voice, I would sing.After the night when I wake up,I'll see what tomorrow brings.

Post by Ashe on Jun 28, 2019 20:36:57 GMT -6

" _____ !" Ashe blew the whistle from the other end of the dock. The pair of creatures turned and swam over to where he was at. He'd actually had to become a little sneakier than he had been; if they could see his shadow, they had started to just follow him over instead of coming when called. Which was really helpful but reminded him he needed to get started on teaching them to stay. If he remembered correctly, the command he used for stay was two shorts. No was one short, and stay was almost like 'no moving' so two shorts seemed to work. It had for Alaska, anyway. He waited for them to catch up to him, and he clicked the clicker for praise, rewarding them one last time. Or rather, having Inyala toss them their respective treats. They hadn't gotten a treat the past two times they succeeded, so this was an added bonus! They gobbled up their treats, then paid attention when Ashe blew the one short. ( _ )

This was new. Not only was it a different command, but it was the second whistle sound they had ever heard. Both looked a little confused, knowing it wasn't the right call for them to go to Ashe, but not knowing what else to do. Ashe had planned on walking away from them, like he would with a ground pet, but at the last minute he had a better idea. He was going to stay right here and work on this. He blew the whistle again, and since the pets stayed below him, Ashe had Inyala toss them each a treat. Wait a few minutes, blow the whistle again, then reward. And a third time, in case it truly was the charm. Then he moved out of sight, walked to the other end of the dock, and made the call for 'come'.

Lotus: 1 1/5Wave Dancer: 1 1/5Inyala: 1 1/5Ashe: 0 8/10

Come - Lotus 5, Wave Dancer 5Stay - Lotus 1, Wave Dancer 1

If I had a heart, I could love you,If I had a voice, I would sing.After the night when I wake up,I'll see what tomorrow brings.

Post by Ashe on Jun 28, 2019 20:52:09 GMT -6

The pair of creatures, seeing Ashe's disappearance and then reappearance, in addition to recognizing the tone he used to call them, made their way over. Wave Dancer was much faster and zipped on over, waiting for a treat or something. Ashe clicked to praise it, and the sea pony realized there would be no treat.... But that it had done well anyway. Who would prefer the click to a treat? No one. But Wave was smart enough to take the praise and try again. Lotus, on the other hand, didn't mind. Treat or no treat, she was there and willing. This was the most interaction, the most fun, she had had in ages. It wasn't like she could actually play with the people she saw from her tank, but she was able to move around here, and interact with Wave Dancer, and get attention from Ashe. Win, win, win.

When they were both with him, and he had clicked the praise for them both, Ashe blew the whistle two short times for stay. He waited, and the creatures stayed. He signaled for Inyala to toss them treats, and she did so quickly. They munched, and Ashe blew the whistle once more... And again they got treats. Then he sidestepped and walked down the center of the dock, out of their line of sight. He blew the whistle for stay again, two shorts, and then hurried on. He called it one more time and then headed back to the edge of the dock - to see they had swam halfway down to follow him. Sigh. That wasn't what he wanted! So they didn't get a treat this time, but he used the come command to get them the rest of the way down there. He clicked the clicker to let them know they did good - then he used 'stay' again, and stepped back out of sight.

Shoutbox

Morgan: No one knows yet. But I did want to make it clear that the jar itself isn't used for lotine husbandry in any way. c:Jun 5, 2020 4:24:19 GMT -6*

Twilight-Claw: I'm only assuming that it does something similar like a Fungal Beast that infects a Leaf-scatter. (the one with moss and I think it was a pink flower growing on the head.)Jun 5, 2020 4:18:34 GMT -6

Morgan: The lolatic doesn't disappear after one use, and can be reused on the same lotine when it is allowed to 'infect' a lotine- to my knowledge.Jun 5, 2020 1:41:37 GMT -6

Morgan: The only effect/thing that the jar can be used for is to open up into a lolatic. The jar itself has no use in lotine breedings.Jun 5, 2020 1:39:52 GMT -6

Twilight-Claw: and the jar is then gone, if with the creature I am more guessing with this the creature doesn't disappear and it has unlimited use.Jun 5, 2020 0:17:55 GMT -6

Twilight-Claw: Something else I am wondering about with the Lotine breeding is whether one would use the jar the Lolatic comes from in the breeding, or actually the creature itself. I'm assuming with it if its the jar, then it gives people only one shot in a breeding, Jun 5, 2020 0:16:08 GMT -6

Twilight-Claw: Then using it in my rps is definitely just for the sake of rp's and not for anything additional. Jun 5, 2020 0:12:17 GMT -6

Renathan: There's no additional effect for adding a fish to a magical berry in a lotine breeding. Magical Berry is kinda it's own thing. Adding a fish for roleplay value shouldn't hurt, but it has no effect when used on a magical berry lotine breeding.Jun 4, 2020 22:27:14 GMT -6

Twilight-Claw: be just for the sake of rp, and perhaps seeing if it might lent a bigger chance to multiple offspring with unique pattern. X3Jun 4, 2020 15:31:01 GMT -6

Twilight-Claw: I think your right on it being unlimited use yeah, although.. *cough* I only found out a couple hours after I started writing that I had yet to buy the fish in question so used the one you could get for free as a replacement, it still was meant to mostly Jun 4, 2020 15:30:59 GMT -6

Riku: From what I loosely understand about the fish is that it isn't one-use, whereas the berry is. I feel like there wouldn't be any consequence of 'using' the fish...which I'd think just ooc wouldn't be counted for whatever rolls or whatever it is that it usesJun 3, 2020 14:14:30 GMT -6

Twilight-Claw: Thanks for that piece of info Ren! <3 | But would it be allowed for the flavor of the rp if the berry wasn't filling enough for the Lotine? Jun 1, 2020 6:09:21 GMT -6*

Renathan: There is no need to double up on a fish and a magical berry (doesn't change the effect of the berry at all) in a lotine breeding.Jun 1, 2020 6:02:21 GMT -6

Twilight-Claw: Does anyone know if it is possible to combine both a magical berry and a fish in a Lotine breeding? Or is you can only choose one of them? (right now writing a Lotine breeding) Jun 1, 2020 5:36:49 GMT -6

Twilight-Claw: I am still interested in trading it for a green drake. Jun 1, 2020 0:31:33 GMT -6